Mulan Story 5
by Megara and Hades
Summary: I don't know what to name it and I don't want to give anything away for this one since it is built up through the whole thing. Just read it! It is my favorite Mulan story thus far. I added a little bit of Mushu this time. Enjoy and leave a (kind) review below.


"A girl worth fighting..."

Suddenly, the soldier's giddy song changed to a solemn silence.

The troops stood at the entrance of a recent army camp, tragically burned to the ground.

They slowly crept in, watching the smoke rise from the burning wood.

"Search for survivors," Captain Li Shang commanded of his troops.

The men headed in different directions.

"Help!" a voice echoed, followed by a sickly cough.

Ping ran in the direction of the voice.

"Captain!" Ping called to Shang.

The captain arrived quickly on his horse.

Ping attempted lifting the injured man up from the snow.

"He called for help then lost consciousness," Ping reported.

"Men!" Shang called out through the thick smoke. "Get help!"

Shang hopped off his horse to help Ping.

The captain lifted the man's drooping head, "It's the general!"

Li Shang's head was filled with emotion; tears ran down his cheeks, both happy ones, since his father had made it alive, and sad ones for he had never seen his father in such distress.

"Okay Ping, on the count of three, help me lift him onto the horse."

Ping nodded.

"One...two...three!"

The two soldiers lifted the captain's father's injured body onto the horse.

"I'll bring him to the medic, search for more survivors."

Ping nodded.

That night, the captain paced back and forth outside of the medical tent while the other soldiers sat around in silence.

"Why haven't we heard from the medic yet?" the captain asked anxiously, carrying his hands behind his back.

"Everything is going to be okay," Ping put his hand on the captain's shoulder.

Shang forcefully turned to Ping, "No, Ping, everything _isn't_ going to be okay! Did you miss the whole field of dead soldiers? Not to mention, the general might not even make it!"

Ping quietly sat back down.

Over the next couple of hours, soldiers began to dwindle back to their tents for the night.

Only two soldiers remained outside of the medical tent; Captain Li Shang and Ping.

"Hey Ping," the captain whispered to the soldier who was drifting off to sleep. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Captain, you don't have to..."

"No, really. I know you were trying to help and keep your optimism. I just was overcome with emotion; sadness, anger...but that's no excuse to have snapped at you. You can head off to bed if you want to, I'll be alright."

"I _want_ to stay," Ping gently smiled.

Both soldiers fell asleep outside of the medical tent.

"Captain," a hand gently shook Li awake. "The surgery is done. You may come see the general," the medic's lantern shown in Shang's face.

Li quickly sat up; he awoke Ping and told him the news.

The two quietly entered the tent followed by the medic.

"It's a good thing you found him when you did," the medic spoke to the men. "Any longer, he would have died of either hypothermia or loss of blood. He is doing much better now, his wounds have been cleaned and closed. But he must remain bedridden for a couple of weeks until he is completely healed," the medic sat cleaning his bloodied tools. "Let him rest and you can come back and visit him in the morning. You both look like you could use some sleep as well."

Shang nodded at the medic.

"Looks like everything is going to be okay after all," Shang smiled at Ping.

"Goodnight Captain."

"Goodnight Ping."

While the sky was still dark, Ping quietly crept into the medical tent; the medic sleeping in a separate one.

Ping sat down next to the sleeping general.

"Couldn't sleep," Ping spoke softly.

"You've had quite the day, huh?" he said looking around at the surgical tools.

"I know that we have never met but am I ever glad that you survived." Ping looked at the man lying on the cot.

"Ya' know, your son loves you a lot, more than he admits. He tries to hide it by calling you 'the general.'" Ping chuckled quietly to himself. "I waited outside this tent many hours with him tonight, I knew he wouldn't sleep until he knew how you were doing. He was _so_ afraid to lose you," the soldier smiled.

"There is such a strong bond between a father and his child," Ping wiped a tear from his eye.

There was a pause.

"Your son is a great man, General. You're lucky to have him."

"Mulan. Pssst. Mulan!" Mushu called from the entrance of the tent.

"Shhh! Mushu," Ping looked around. "Someone might hear you!"

"Oh I'm sorry _Ping_ ," Mushu said sarcastically. "But the captain and other men are going to wake up very soon and if they see you like... _this_..." Mushu looked at the soldier unarmored and hair loosely flowing. "You'll be in trouble."

"Good call," Mulan lifted herself from her seat next to the general.

"Yeah, yeah. I know!" Mushu said sassily while walking back to his tent, thinking Ping was trailing behind him.

"What if the medic came to check on him in the middle of the night and saw you? What would you have done then?" Mushu turned to receive a response from Ping. "Mul...Ping?!"

"I'll pray for a quick recovery," the soldier bowed before the sleeping man.

The general shifted on his cot.

"I'm coming! Don't get your tail in a knot," Ping responded while existing the medical tent.

The next morning, before the soldiers packed up to head up the mountain, the medic called the captain over to the tent.

"He is awake if you'd like to see him Captain."

Shang nodded to the medic.

"Ah, Li, come in," the general spoke to his son standing at the entrance.

"General," Shang bowed to his father.

The general chuckled to himself.

"Something funny General?" the soldier was puzzled.

"You know you don't have to call me General, son," the man smiled at his only child.

"Uh...right."

"So," the general patted the seat next to his cot. "Tell me about this Ping fellow."

"Ping?"

"Yes."

"Did you not get the daily report from Chi Fu?" asked Li Shang.

"I did. I just want to know about the unrecorded details," Shang's father intertwined his fingers over his stomach.

"Well..." the soldier thought for a moment. "He was the first one to retrieve the arrow during training."

"Is that so?" the general inquired.

"Yes. He did it during sunrise while the other soldiers and I were asleep."

"He seems like he has great determination; wouldn't you say?"

"I suppose he does. But you should have seen him when he first arrived; it was like he never even held a sword," Shang chuckled to himself. "He's come a long way."

"To which family does he belong?" the general's brows furrowed in question.

"The Fa family," Li responded wondering why his father was so curious.

"'Fa' as in Fa Zhou?" Shang's father inquired.

"Yes."

"I wonder why Fa Zhou, a great soldier, wouldn't teach his son how to fight or use a sword when it was such a large part of his life," the general pondered.

"Well, that'll do it," the general patted his son on the back hinting that he is relieved.

"You don't want to know any other unrecorded information about the other soldiers?" his son asked.

"Don't you think it might be time to pack up and head out?" his father asked, rejecting his son's question.

Li Shang bowed and headed out of the tent.

"Men, you have ten minutes to pack up and move out!" the captain commanded of his men.

"Fa Ping?" the medic called.

"Yes?" Ping replied.

"The general would like to see you in his tent."

Ping gulped and headed inside the medical tent.

"You requested my presence general?"

"Ah, Ping. Come in."

Ping bowed to the man.

"I've heard a great deal about you Fa Ping," he told the soldier.

"All good things I hope," Ping teased.

"But I don't remember Fa Zhou telling me he had a son, only a daughter...what was her name...?" the general stroked his chin.

"Mulan, sir."

"Ah, yes, Mulan; he bragged about her like she were an Empress. She brought him great pride and honor."

Ping cast his eyes to the tent floor.

"I wonder why he never told me about you? After all, I hear that you are a great soldier," the general stroked his chin hair.

"I don't know; I guess Mulan was his favorite," Ping joked.

"Perhaps," the general narrowed his eyes at the soldier.

"Tell me something Ping..."

"Excuse me general," the medic poked his head into the tent.

The general nodded, approving the medic to come inside.

"We need to get you into a cart, the captain gave orders to move out."

"Very well," the general approved.

"Run ahead and join the others Ping."

Ping bowed to the general and quickly removed himself from the tent.

Mushu tugged on the bottom of Ping's armor, "What did he want?"

"I...I don't really know. He didn't remember my father talking about having a son; only me," Ping whispered to the dragon.

" _Duh_ , your father doesn't have a son!"

"Well, I know that, and you know that, but _they_ don't know that," Ping gestured to the other soldiers.

"Go back into the cart please before people think I'm crazy and talking to myself."

" _Go back into the cart before people realize I'm insane_ ," Mushu mocked under his breath as he climbed back into Ping's cart.

 **Pckuw!**

A cannon shot out from Ping's cart.

 _ **FAST FORWARD**_

"What's wrong?" the Captain ran to Ping's side.

Breathing heavily, Ping removed his hand from his torn armor; it was covered in bright red blood.

It flowed quickly from Ping's open wound.

The Captain's eyes widened.

"He's wounded; get help!" the Captain commanded his men.

The soldier began losing vision.

"Ping," Captain Li Shang stood over him, "Hold on. Hold on."

Ping's vision collapsed.

Ping blinked back to consciousness.

He found himself sharing the medical tent with the sleeping general.

He winced and turned to the gray-haired medic, "What happened?"

"You had a large slice in your ribs," the medic spoke softly while cleaning off his surgical tools.

Ping lifted the blanket to look at his wound; he was wrapped from chest to waist.

He quickly and nervously looked over at the general on the neighboring cot.

The general began shifting his position.

The medic existed the tent reporting nothing to the captain.

Ping, trying very hard to be quiet and not wake the general, stood from his cot and wrapped his blanket around his body.

He was hoping no one would notice the bandage.

Ping began tiptoeing to the edge of the tent.

"Ping," the general said.

"Yes?" Ping closed his eyes in anticipation; still facing the exit.

"You need to stay on the cot and let your wound heal," he told the soldier.

"I'll be okay," Ping took another step toward the exit.

"Besides, what will you wear? Your armor is still torn. You can't go out in the snow with nothing but pants and shoes," the general commented.

"I just need some fresh air. It's, uh, hot in here."

"In a few minutes. Please, come sit and keep me company. I haven't been able to talk to anyone for a while other than the medic and he's a terribly boring man," the general patted the cot next to him.

Not seeing any way out of this one, Ping sat back down.

He kept the blanket wrapped around him.

"If it is so hot in here, why don't you take off your blanket?" the general asked the soldier.

"Now I am a little cold. Maybe I have a fever," Ping lied through his teeth.

"I'll call the medic in," the general opened his mouth in preparation to call the man into the tent.

"That isn't necessary, I'll be alright," Ping stopped him quickly.

The general reclined back on his cot, resting his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.

"I was wondering if you could figure something out for me," the general directed his question to Ping.

"I can try," Ping answered.

"The other night, in the middle of the night, only hours after my surgery, someone came into the tent to visit me. I was asleep at first but was soon awakened to the soft sound of the soldier's voice. I didn't hear him introduce himself..."

"Oh," Ping interrupted. "I don't know General."

"Just wait, I'm not done yet," the general told Ping, his eyes remaining closed. "He spoke kindly of my son."

"As I am sure any soldier here would..." in chimed Ping.

"But here is the weird part..." the general folded his hands over his stomach.

"Another voice appeared calling the soldier 'Mulan.' I did not recognize that voice nor the voice of the soldier."

Ping's eyes grew big in fear.

"That same voice that called to 'Mulan' then called the name...Ping," the general opened his eyes and looked at Ping. "And do not tell me someone was sleepwalking."

Mulan's eyes fell to the ground as she sat in silence.

"Well?" asked the general. "Do you have anything to say?"

"I thought you were asleep," Mulan spoke softly using her real voice.

The general chuckled to himself, "Even if I were asleep, we share a medical tent. I know what's under the blanket."

Both of them sat in silence for a moment, then Mulan spoke, "You knew. You knew this whole time."

Mulan lifted her head and looked into the general's eyes, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I suppose I decided that your gender didn't change the fact that you saved my life, took out an entire Hun army with one cannon, or saved my son from falling to his death."

"But I broke the law. If Chi Fu finds out that you know and didn't say anythi..."

"Chi Fu won't find out. In fact, no one will find out. You will pretend to be Ping until the parade at the palace. I told the medic that I will announce you as you are at the parade. He is to keep his mouth shut until then."

"What about the Emperor, won't he be angry that you and the medic knew and didn't give me the appropriate punishment?" Mulan inquired.

"I have known the emperor for a very long time, after he hears all of the good you have done for China, he will surely do more than spare your life." the general reassured her.

"We will wait until your armor is fixed and will allow no visitors in this tent until it is."

"How can I ever repay you for such a gift as you have given me?" Mulan asked feeling unworthy.

"You could answer one more question for me," answered the general.

"Anything," Mulan responded.

"Do you love my son?" the general did not hesitate.

Mulan smiled, "Unlike anyone I have ever loved before."

"That's all I need."


End file.
